For the fourth day in a row, Arkansas' daily count of covid-19 cases exceeded 800.
State health officials also pointed out a significant day-to-day increase in hospitalizations, indicating that the state's older population has continued to get sick.
That is something they don't want to continue to see as the next flu season looms, state epidemiologist Dr. Jennifer Dillaha said.
"That’s really concerning," she said of the latest numbers during a phone interview with the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. "That shows that we have a heightened level of community spread. That is something that we really need to work toward reducing. Everybody plays a role in that. We all need to work together."
The state's data Saturday showed a total of 407 covid-19 patients hospitalized, an increase of 26 compared to Friday. Eighty-one of those patients are on ventilators, up from 77 the previous day, according to the Arkansas Department of Health.
Saturday's total of 803 infections increased the total number of confirmed cases since the start of the pandemic to 73,141, with 6,101 of those cases still active, according to the Health Department. The total of all cases, including probable cases, passed 75,000.
The total number of virus-related deaths rose by eight Saturday to 1,033, officials said. The total number of deaths linked to the virus rose to 1,181.
Records show that Saturday's reported deaths were not concentrated in any one area of the state. Four of the victims were men and the other four were women, Dillaha said.
Gov. Asa Hutchinson wrote Saturday on Twitter that the state continues to see a "remarkable number" of tests being done, with more than 10,000 total tests administered Friday.